Out Of Order
by MKKH
Summary: AU. Sometimes we get what we want in life, just a little out of order. Set after 'The Limey'


**AN: This idea came to me while re-watching The Limey… I just leave it at that…**

She couldn't believe she was doing this alone. She never imagined it'd be this way. Her idea was to either be to happily committed to her career that she seemed to be married to, or actually married with the intention of having children and living the rest of her life in peace. This wasn't either one of those plans. The stress of this, on top of the stress from her job was enough to kill anyone, especially on their own.

She had done it on her own this far. Colin had spent most of the last nine months in Scotland Yard, featuring back to the states only a had full of times for a few days at a time. She had done this alone. Between working at least twelve hour days for the last seven months, everything she did was alone. There were many late nights trying to figure out how to put baby furniture together, even more late nights washing and folding clothes. Most of the late nights were spent trying to make it up to Castle.

It was one night. Colin had a New York penthouse apartment to himself and neither one of them wanted to spend the night alone. She remembered everything about it, every second she could recall like the event had just occurred. It wasn't supposed to be sex. They were supposed to enjoy some drinks, maybe flirt with each other, possibly a couple intimate kisses, but sex on the first date was too fast for Kate. They had known each other for barely 72 hours, and Kate was never one to do such an intimate act with someone she barely knew.

He was supposed to be Castle. She wanted to tell Castle how much she loved him just as he had done; she wanted to begin a relationship, get married and have a family with him. He was her soul mate. Even under the influence of the heavy alcohol they were drinking, every time Colin entered her, she imagined it was Castle. After that moment, every time she saw Castle she wanted to tell him how she felt, but it was never the right time. There was always some new bimbo or deep fried twenkie back in his life, never time for her.

The hardest decision came when she had to decide whether to tell him she was pregnant or not. She knew she should, but how would he react? She wanted to be with him but she knew the chances of him accepting her and this baby after all she put him through was slim to none. Though things weren't going her way, she did have the chance to tell Colin in person, and while she wasn't necessarily happy about the circumstances, she was happy to have that opportunity.

"Hey…" She greeted him sitting in the booth at a local cafe.

"Hello yourself." He matched her, the two sharing a soft smile.

"So," she began as he sat down across from her. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Good, and yourself?"

"Not too bad. Now, you know the night she shared together was, well wonderful…" She paused as she watched him smile and blush. "But there's something you should know. He looked at her with a curious and concerned look on his face. "I'm pregnant."

There was a moment of shocked silence. It was the first time Kate admitted it out loud to herself too.

"Wha… What?" He questioned not believing what he had heard. "I can't believe this. How could this happen? I have a fiancee, this just ruined everything." He was talking to himself more than he was to her.

"Look, you can be as involved in this child's life as you want. I know you have a life back in England and it will be hard on both of us to raise a child thousands of miles apart, so please don't feel like you have any obligations." She told him in attempts to comfort him. Her attempted seemed to foiled by him still sitting there with a blank stare on his face and tears about to fall from his eyes. There was nothing else she could say or do to make him feel better, and she knew that just as well as he did.

"I can't marry you Kate." He told her as he pulled out slightly from his state of shock.

"No, no Colin I don't want you to. You have a life in England and you need to do that, I just thought you should know." She replied.

"Yes, yes I need to be with my fiancee but this will devastate her when I tell her." He was still thinking out loud just a little bit. "I don't want to be involved though, at least not a lot. I will support you financially if you need it but, I can't be there or rather, here for you."

"That's fine, you don't have to be." She told him. He seem much more comforted with that now than he did before. "If you want me to keep you updated, I can, if you don't that's fine too."

"No, I do. I want to know I just can't go to the appointments and hold your hand and be everything that I should be in this position." He told her. She should have expected it.

"I know, and that's fine. You can be as involved as you like."

"Yes I would like to know what's going on, pleas keep me updated." He informed her.

"I will, as much or as little as you like…" She began.

"I want to know as much as I can, after every appointment, every night if you want." He cut her off. "If I can be there when this child is born, I'd like to."

"If that's what you like, I can do that." She granted his wishes with those few words.

"Thank you, Kate." He thanked her with a small smile and a slight stroke on her hand.

He got up from the table and left, and that began the beginning of their parenthood.

Kate had complications. Lots of complications. Between stress, her anemia, and high blood pressure she spent many nights in empty hospital rooms, alone. She tried to call Castle, but after he found out he would barely answer for her. Her father spent a few nights with her, but other than that she was mainly alone.

She was alone again. The contractions hit her just as she was making dinner. She called her doctor, not knowing what else to do. She tracked her contractions just as the doctor said and made her way to the hospital when they were eight minutes apart. She probably should have called someone, anyone, but she was independent and drove herself there instead. Upon arriving, she was rushed to a waiting room, examined and prepared for labor. She was three centimeters dilated and her labor could take three more hours or three days. She made a few quick calls to Colin, her father, Lanie and Castle before finally getting to relax.

Castle didn't answer. Why would he? She prayed he would return her phone calls and be there to support her. He told her, he would be and now she really needed him.

She heard a soft knock at the door. She knew it couldn't be Colin, he wouldn't be there for another 14 hours, and her father had gotten caught in traffic, must be Lanie. Kate's visitor finally revealed themselves. Castle.

"Castle?" She questions softly not believing what she was seeing.

"Hi." He replied back softly stepping towards her.

"What are you doing here?" She asked pulling herself up still questioning what she was seeing.

"You needed me. I came." He answered itching closer to her.

When he was next to her, he took her hand in his and gave her a reassuring smile. Just having him there made it so much easier.

The next sixteen hours were long and hard. When Colin finally arrived, he took his place next to Kate, holding her hand and feeding her ice chips as needed. Castle, seeing the situation unfolding, took his place in the waiting room with Jim. They took shifts in the delivery room with Kate, keeping her comfortable, calm and well rested.

Two hours of the shift work before the baby was finally able to make their appearance. Kate could hardly believe that her life was about to change in a million ways, but she was ready. Colin held her hand as she brought their daughter in the world.

Through phone calls and e-mails, they decided on a name - Alexandra. She would take Kate's last name and spend her summers with Colin. His fiancee wasn't happy about the whole situation but had began to accept it. He would be in town for the next three days to help Kate care for Alex, but after that she would unfortunately be alone again.

Those first fews days alone were the hardest of her life, then came her savior. Castle.

She was surprised when he told her the truth, through all of this - he loved her. Still did. He begged to be with her and begged for her to feel the same. They were in luck. They began their relationship, eventually became engaged and married. In the end, they each got what they wanted, though a little out of order.


End file.
